Thanks Joe!!

Alright so here is a little update on my attempt to do full-time mission work in Africa. I met with a missions representative this morning from AIM with my mentor and had breakfast. I learned this process will take a bit longer than I had hoped, yet I know its Gods will. I wont be able to go to NYC this August as hoped. The registration for the August Candidate Week is full, so I will have to wait until November to even get the ball rolling again. That’s ok though, Gods will be done in this and not my own. After the meeting this morning I found out that I would be an amazing candidate for this position!!!! This made me excited. However, Phil did tell me something that shocked me. I was the fourth single guy he has met this year interested in missions. Yet, he has met with tons of women and families ready to be put on the mission field. This really bothered me. There are tons of men who are well qualified, yet, are sitting and dwelling in the “American Dream”. It really saddens me. Well back to goodnews. After I go to CW in November, I will spend time raising support for my trip. That will take some time, but I’m so pumped to start it. After that, I will be traveling to Kenya to start a 3 week training program. It wont be where I will be doing my assignment, but after those 3 weeks I start my assignment!!!! Guys, I’m so excited. I’M SO EXCITED!!!! Anyways, thats all I know for now. Keep me in your prayers. Thanks all!

In Christ,
JJ

So I’m about half way done with Lord, Save Us From Your Followers and its been an awesome book! You can check it out here. Here are a few things from the book that have stuck out:

• America is a “Bumper Sticker culture, where we are too comfortable with one way communication. We like to tell people what we think, but we hate to listen to others who think differently.

• Complexed ideas are reduced to bumper sticker statements and there is neevr any dialog between the two extremes. “Blank VS Blank”

• Things Christians are known for: Hate, Intolerance, Political agendas, Closed Minded, No Love. We SHOULD be known by our Love for others.

• On Street Preachers “And as a believer, a Christian, a man who loves Jesus, these street preachers would offend me because they assumed I needed them to lecture me, to save me. They enevr asked where I was coming from, and it never seems that they care. There approach always seems like “I have all the answers and you don’t. Come over here and Ill tell you where you have screwed up.” Do you think anyone is going to listen to that?”

• Jesus was not a Republican or Democrat!!!

• People think that Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and James Dobson speak for all of Christianity, even Jesus himself.

• “As Believers, I think we simply don’t know how we sound to others; What’s worse is, we just don’t care because “were right” anyways and to add insult to injury we won’t listen to anyone.

The most powerful thing I have read so far is this quote:

“Are we trying to fit Jesus into what we are doing as a people or a country? Or are we trying to fit in to what Jesus is doing?”

Ask yourself, are you trying to be in Gods plan, or are you trying to put Him in your plan?

Heres a little video about the book and movie coming out

So this has been on my mind lately and I feel that I should write about it. Two things have bothered me more than anything, specifically church signs and christian bumper stickers, but that’s a post for another time. I picked up this book today called “Lord, save us from your followers” subtitled “Why the Gospel of Love is dividing America”. This guy Dan Merchant aka the bumper sticker man has traveled the nation talking with Christians and non Christians on how Christianity is looked at in America. All the Christians said they were spreading the Gospel of Love and Salvation. However, you hear a much different story from the non Christians.

They hear:

Hatred and Intolerance

Fanaticism and Fundamentalism

Too Political

Unloving to Homosexuals

The sad part is, all of this is true. Ill continue to blog on what I read, but i’ll leave you with this bumper sticker, one that has made me really sit back and think…I made me look at myself. I see it as the truth.

more to come, stay with me…

John 12:12-13, Matthew 21:14-16 12The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!” 14The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. 16″Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, ” ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?”

Yesterday I went with Eddie Williams and others from Lifepoint Church to minister to the homeless downtown at the Good Shepard Center. It was a pretty neat experience for myself. Somethign that struck me was one song we sang. We sang Hosanna by Hillsong, and it was by far one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. With one guitar and a bunch of believers, lifting this song up to the Lord. While I was sitting here I thought about the word Hosanna. What does it mean? I think John Piper hits it right on the head:

“”Hosanna!” means, “Hooray for salvation! It’s coming! It’s here! Salvation! Salvation!”

And “Hosanna to the Son of David!” means, “The Son of David is our salvation! Hooray for the king! Salvation belongs to the king!”

And “Hosanna in the highest!” means, “Let all the angels in heaven join the song of praise. Salvation! Salvation! Let the highest heaven sing the song!”"

click here for the full article

I just want to Challenge you to look into your heart and really think about that word “Hosanna”. What does it mean to you? I’ll leave you with the lyrics.

Verse 1
I see the king of glory
Coming down the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes, the whole earth shakes
I see his love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing, the people sing

Chorus
Hosanna, hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

Verse 2
I see a generation
Rising up to take the place
With selfless faith, with selfless faith
I see a new revival
Staring as we pray and seek
We’re on our knees, we’re on our knees

Bridge
Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what is yours
Everything I am for your kingdom’s cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

Hosanna